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CNN Live Event/Special
The California Governor Primary Debate. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired May 05, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:37]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: This is the California governor primary debate.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: The stage is set. The candidates are ready. Let's go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NARRATOR (voice-over): Happening now, just outside of Los Angeles, candidates are about to take the stage in the fight to lead the nation's largest state.
STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Are we ready to save our beautiful state of California?
NARRATOR: The Golden State's top job is up for grabs, as Gavin Newsom exits after two terms and high-profile clashes with President Trump.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): They poked the bear, and the bear is poking back.
(CHEERING)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The radical left Democrats have destroyed this state.
NARRATOR: Tonight, a crowded field battles in a wide-open race for California governor.
TOM STEYER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Democracy is under threat.
HILTON: Everyone agrees we need change. That's what I'm fighting for.
NARRATOR: With Democrats and Republicans fighting for just two spots on the November ballot...
FMR. REP. KATIE PORTER (D-CA), GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: My whole career has been about affordability.
CHAD BIANCO (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We don't believe our politicians.
NARRATOR: Which candidate can seize the momentum and who won't make the cut?
XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This race will come down to those who've earned it versus those who are trying to buy it.
NARRATOR: Democrats vying to break away from the path.
STEYER: I'm a billionaire who wants to tax billionaires.
PORTER: I am the only candidate who does not take corporate contributions.
BECERRA: If I have something in, it's experience.
MATT MAHAN (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I want to make government work for people.
ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I believe health care's a right, not a privilege.
NARRATOR: And Republicans hoping to shock the political world and turn California red.
HILTON: We can turn things around. You just have to vote differently.
BIANCO: Those currently in power are completely out of touch.
NARRATOR: Now Democrats and Republicans on the same stage face off on California's future and the challenges facing the country.
VILLARAIGOSA: Listen to the people and focus on the issues they care about.
NARRATOR: A CNN special event, the California Governor primary debate, starts right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And good evening from Southern California, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.
We're live from the campus of East Los Angeles College, and this is the CNN California Governor primary debate.
I'm Kaitlan Collins.
MICHAELSON: And I'm Elex Michaelson.
Tonight, you will hear from seven candidates seeking to lead the most populous state in the nation and manage the fourth largest economy in the world. Early voting is already under way. Ballots are now being cast. And a reminder that the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to the general election, which is why we have both Democrats and Republicans together on stage here tonight.
And this race is wide open. COLLINS: The candidates are former Los Angeles Mayor Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, former Congresswoman Democrat Katie Porter, businessmen Democrat Tom Steyer, businessmen and former television host Republican Steve Hilton, Riverside County Sheriff Republican Chad Bianco, former Health and Human Services Secretary Democrat Xavier Becerra, and the mayor of San Jose, Democrat Matt Mahan.
MICHAELSON: Candidates, we're about to begin, but first a review of the ground rules that your campaigns agreed to in advance.
Our goal is to facilitate a fair and productive debate. Each of you will receive one minute to answer questions, 30 seconds for responses and rebuttals, and 15 additional seconds if one of us moderators asks you for a clarification.
The timing lights in front of you will remind you of these limits. Please respect them and the other candidates on the stage during their allotted time.
COLLINS: Let's get right to it.
California, as you all know, has long been a symbol of the American dream, but, right now, many Californians are struggling to make ends meet. The state now has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. And, according to analysis from our partner USAFacts, it is one of only five states that lost population between 2024 and 2025.
Secretary Becerra, given everything that I just laid out there, why do Democrats deserve another four years in charge?
BECERRA: Kaitlan, because Democrats are the ones that aspire to include everyone and not leave anyone behind, like my parents, who came with $12 in their pocket to California, and they lived the California dream.
[21:05:04]
My three sisters and I, we got to live the California dream. But it doesn't come easy. You have to work hard. My mother today still shops with coupons. And you learn that when you watch that growing up.
And I know that my job as attorney general, as secretary of health and human services, is always to help people like my parents who are working hard. And that's why I fought for our families, made sure that, when Donald Trump was attacking us the first time, we went toe to toe with him.
More than 120 times, I had to sue Donald Trump to keep him from destroying our state of California. When I was secretary of health and human services, we expanded access to health care to more Americans than ever in the history of the country.
We were able to negotiate lower drug prices for the first time in history for Medicare. And we proved that we could draw prices by up to 80 percent. If we fight to make California affordable, people will stay and they will come to this great state. COLLINS: Thank you, Secretary Becerra.
Mr. Steyer, that question, why do Democrats deserve another four years in charge, is a key one. What's your response?
STEYER: Well, the biggest problem in California is that Californians can't afford to live here anymore.
And it starts with housing, but it definitely includes health care. It includes electric costs, which are twice as high as in the rest of the country, and it includes soaring gasoline prices.
I have a plan for every single one of those. The difference between me and everybody else is, I'm willing to take on the corporate special interests. I'm willing to push for single-payer. I'm willing to take on the electric monopolies. They're spending big against me. And that proves it. I'm the change agent, and I'm the progressive.
COLLINS: Mayor Mahan, what's your response?
MAHAN: Well, Kaitlan, we deserve better. I'm the only Democrat in this race who has challenged the establishment within my own party to demand better results.
I have made San Jose the safest big city in the country, unblocked thousands of homes that are now under construction, led our city to reduce homelessness faster than any other city. We don't need MAGA values, but we also don't need more of the same.
There's a lot of talk on this stage, but we should be honest. The experience we hear from Secretary Becerra didn't lead to better outcomes. It led to 85,000 migrant children who were lost, more fraud in our health care system.
Tom Steyer is making a lot of false promises up here, things that the legislature already rejected because we don't know how to pay for them. We need pragmatic, results-oriented leadership. I know what's at stake. I grew up in a working-class family. We were paycheck to paycheck growing up.
I will fight every day to make life better for working Californians.
COLLINS: Mr. Steyer, do you want to respond to that?
STEYER: I absolutely do.
I will on the first day call a special election to close a corporate real estate tax loophole that's worth over $20 billion. The truth is...
PORTER: It's convenient to close it after you have profited from it.
STEYER: The truth is that the real -- the California government needs more money because Donald Trump is kicking one to three million people off Medi-Cal, and our school system needs more money to support teachers and students. And I'm the only person on this stage that will go after corporations and raise the revenue we need to have a system that actually works for California.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Steyer.
MAHAN: So, raising taxes will make us more affordable.
COLLINS: Mr. Hilton, can I get you to weigh in on this prospect as voters are facing this as they go and they're getting their ballots now?
HILTON: So, Kaitlan and Elex, it's interesting. We have already seen a couple of things that we will probably see a lot of in this debate, which is the Democrats who are here who've been responsible for 16 years of one-party rule, for everything that we see in California, won't take responsibility, and all they can talk about is Trump.
Look, I was asked how I'm preparing for this debate the other day. And my answer was the meetings, the thousands of people that have come to our events the last year in California. I have traveled to every part of the state. I have seen the struggle and the stories.
And that is my struggle and my story, is, my parents were immigrants. The California dream is my dream.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Hilton.
HILTON: And I want that for every single one of you watching out there.
COLLINS: And, Mr. Hilton...
HILTON: We can get it back.
COLLINS: ...you heard Mayor Mahan invoke MAGA values in his answer there. There are more than two-thirds of registered voters in this state who disapprove of President Trump's job performance.
Why should voters who are unhappy with the performance of the president vote for the candidate that he's endorsed in this race?
HILTON: So they should vote for the candidate who's got a concrete plan to make our state Califordable, $3 gas, cut your electric bills in half, your first hundred grand tax-free, a home you can afford to buy.
It's common sense, practical things. Most of my career has been in business. I know how to get things done. And we need to change. We need some fresh thinking after 16 years of one-party rule from these Democrats that have given us the highest poverty rate, as you mentioned, the highest unemployment rate and the highest cost of living in the country.
VILLARAIGOSA: Mr. Hilton...
COLLINS: Secretary Becerra -- go ahead.
VILLARAIGOSA: Mr. Hilton, how can you say that Democrats have it wrong when you can't admit that Donald Trump the lost the 2020 election?
The fact is, all you do is point at Democrats, scream at Democrats.
HILTON: But you have been in charge for 16 years, Antonio.
[21:10:06]
VILLARAIGOSA: ... and don't have anything else to say.
And I want to chime in on what Matt Mahan said. He's not the only Democrat that's challenged his party. I have as well. And I have for a long time.
Elex, you said a few months ago that I have been talking about affordability for years. I have been challenging my party for years, because it's been Democrats that brought us here. But I can also challenge Donald Trump and say very clearly that he lost the election in 2020.
You can't, Mr. Hilton.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mayor Villaraigosa.
Mr. Hilton, I want to give you a chance to respond to that.
BECERRA: And I hope I will get a chance to respond to Mr. Mahan's attack as well.
COLLINS: Mr. Hilton, go ahead.
HILTON: It's not Donald Trump who's given us gas prices $2 higher than the rest of the country. It's Democrat policies, which Antonio and all the Democrats here support. It's not Donald Trump that's given us the highest housing costs in the country. It's Democrat policies that all these Democrats support.
Donald Trump is the president in all the other states of America where the cost of living is way lower than in California. Obviously, it is way past time for change in California. And endlessly going on about Donald Trump doesn't serve the needs of the struggling families and small businesses...
(CROSSTALK)
VILLARAIGOSA: Can you say whether or not he won the election?
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Secretary Becerra -- Secretary Becerra, go ahead.
BECERRA: So, Mr. Mahan chose to divert from answering the question about affordability to launch attacks. What I would simply say to him is, let's focus on who's raising the cost of living in California the most.
And that's Donald Trump. The price of gas has gone up $1 to $2 because of Donald Trump and his war in Iran. The price of goods, groceries have gone up in California because of Donald Trump's illegal tariffs.
HILTON: You see, all they can say is Trump. That's all they have got.
(CROSSTALK)
VILLARAIGOSA: That's just not true.
(CROSSTALK)
VILLARAIGOSA: We have had the highest gas prices, on average, over $2 the rest of the -- than the rest of the nation for a very long time.
HILTON: Antonio's right about that.
VILLARAIGOSA: Trump has made it worse, for sure.
PORTER: Boys, boys...
VILLARAIGOSA: But it's not...
(CROSSTALK)
PORTER: ... enough with the bickering.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: ... Villaraigosa, I will get right back to you.
But, Congresswoman Porter, I mean, to this question, in and of itself, you're a Democrat who served in Washington. What's your response?
PORTER: Look, California does need to make changes. The world is changing around us. We are seeing A.I. come and present real challenges with jobs. The pace of climate change is real.
We have an unreliable federal partner who's made clear that California is going to be -- he's going to attack California. Donald Trump has not made any bones about that. This is a real opportunity for California to set its eyes on the future.
We do need to make change in California. And it is ridiculous for Mr. Steyer to claim that he's the only candidate that has taken on corporations, when, I will tell you, there are a lot of CEOs who've been whiteboarded who would beg to differ.
COLLINS: Thank you, Congresswoman.
STEYER: Can I respond to that?
COLLINS: Sheriff Bianco, we haven't heard from you. Let me get your response.
BIANCO: Well, thank you.
I just want to actually answer your question, was, why do Democrats deserve it? You just listened to probably 10, 15 minutes of why they don't. We are going to get nothing but the same from them. They brought us here. Every single one of these career politicians brought us to the point where we are here today.
They do not deserve another chance. They have broken us with endless regulations that have destroyed California, destroyed our businesses, destroyed the cost of gas. We need an unbelievable change to get back. And, unfortunately for all of them, I'm the only one on this stage that has spent a career making California lives better.
MICHAELSON: We're going to talk about the economy now. We will get you in a moment, Mr. Steyer.
But we're going to go to you, Mr. Mahan, with this question and the issue of affordability. As we know, right now, gas prices across the country are skyrocketing, due in part to the Iran war, the highest prices right here in California.
Mayor Mahan, it costs $6 right now or more to fill up your -- buy a gallon of gas in this state. Your opponent Mr. Hilton is promising to bring that price down to $3 a gallon in his first year in office. Is that realistic?
MAHAN: No, it obviously isn't.
Look, I grew up in a farming town. I know what it means when the cost of gas goes up a dollar. People start actually having to make really tough trade-offs. Can you pay the rent? Can you put food on the table? I'm the only candidate in this race who is called for a suspension of the gas tax...
HILTON: That's not true.
MAHAN: ... because it disproportionately -- it disproportionately harms working families.
We need to reform this tax and make sure E.V. owners and higher income earners are paying their fair share. But the truth is, Xavier Becerra is misleading when he blames all of our cost issues on Donald Trump. I have fought against Trump. We have sued the Trump administration. We have blocked his cruel immigration enforcement tactics.
But California's problems have been long-running. We don't need more career politicians supported by the insiders in Sacramento. The truth is, we had the highest housing costs, highest energy costs, some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the country for years, long before Donald Trump ran for president.
We need more pragmatic policies, removing regulations that are in the way, reducing fees.
MICHAELSON: Thank you, sir.
Mr. Hilton, to you and then Secretary Becerra.
Mr. Hilton.
[21:15:00]
HILTON: So, Matt says that it's obviously impossible to get to $3 gas, as I have laid out in my plan.
Before the Iran war, there were 40 states in America with $3 gas or lower, most of which don't have the abundant oil reserves that we have in California. But because of the policies supported by Matt and all these Democrats, we are now shipping oil halfway around the world, 7,500 miles from places like Iraq, instead of opening up California oil and gas production so we can reduce costs and get $3 gas in California, which is my plan.
MAHAN: You know why we have those higher standards is because in places like Los Angeles, where we are today, it used to be that you couldn't breathe. Kids would have higher asthma rates. We have those higher standards for a reason.
We can bring down costs over time, but it's technology that still --
HILTON: It's totally unrealistic that you're going to have $3 gas in a year. You're lying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only in a Democrat state.
MICHAELSON: Secretary Becerra.
BECERRA: Well, I'm fascinated to see people argue that we should get rid of the funding for the roads so we can take care of potholes, the highways, so we can make sure that we don't have massive congestion or our transit systems by getting rid of the one way we fund those systems the most, the gas tax.
If we were to get rid of the Trump gas tax, we would be able to save ourselves about $1 to $2 at least just in the Trump gas tax as a result of his war in Iran. Let's start focusing where the real problem is. And yes, I'm going to repeat Donald Trump as often as I have to because he's the real menace we have in California. Nothing else to say --
HILTON: (INAUDIBLE) your perspective.
STEYER: So, let me say this. This war in Iran has driven up the gas by at least $1.50. And the truth is we should be taxing the oil companies because they are getting a windfall profit as a result of the war that the president that they put into office started for no apparent reason. We should be taxing that money. We should send it directly to California's pockets, not to the government of California.
And let me say this. Being in bed with oil companies is a mistake. Javier Becerra has taken the max amount of money from Chevron and he has said they're good guys that we need. The truth of the matter is the oil companies are ripping us off at the pump. They're polluting our air and they're burning up land.
MICHAELSON: Thank you. Mr. Secretary Becerra, your response.
BECERRA: Yes, it's a rich response from a guy who made his billions investing in fossil fuels, in oil companies, in coal companies. Now, he makes the billions and he has spent more than every other candidate combined in his campaign using those profits to now try to buy his seat in the governor's office.
Tom, the last thing we need is someone who makes riches from investing in oil companies and then accuse everyone else of doing the wrong thing.
STEYER: Can I respond. Look, I walked away from my company 14 years ago so I could give back to California. I am the person on this stage who is fighting the oil companies. And the way that you know is they're spending millions of dollars to prevent me from getting elected.
BECERRA: Well, why not give back your billions of dollars that you raised -- that you made in profits?
STEYER: They are scared to death that I will make polluters pay. And the truth of the matter is every environmentalist in this state has endorsed me. And the people who are opposing me, you can just follow the money. The oil companies, the electric monopolies are spending tens of millions of dollars against me. The environmentalists are to a person supporting me. That's what's going on in this election.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk about the proposed billionaire tax. Just last week, a one-time 5 percent tax on the assets of billionaires cleared a critical hurdle to make the ballot in November, setting up a clash over what could be the nation's first wealth tax.
Congresswoman Porter, Mr. Steyer, as we just referenced, is the only billionaire on the stage. He supports this tax. You do not. Why not?
PORTER: Because I support good ideas, not things that help me dodge political potholes due to my own background. This billionaire's tax is simply not good tax policy. And anybody who has watched me in Congress take on bank CEOs, take on pharma CEOs, challenge them for the fact that their workers can't make ends meet while they're packaging $26 million a year, knows that I will speak truth to power.
And here is the truth. This tax isn't going to fundamentally change California's economy in the way that young people and the working people of California need. It's a one-time tax. But we don't have one- time revenue needs. It taxes billionaires as if half billionaires don't have two nickels to rub together and couldn't chip in a little bit more. And 90 percent of the money is dedicated to only one thing, when we have all kinds of revenue problems coming at us from our own decisions and Donald Trump.
So, yes, to a progressive tax code. Yes, to the wealthy paying more. But this tax is about cheap political points. It is not about really fundamentally changing California's economy for the better. That's going to take real political courage.
[21:20:03]
MICHAELSON: Thank you. Mr. Steyer, it's about cheap political points, your response?
STEYER: No. I have said that billionaires like me should pay more taxes, and the big corporations should pay more taxes.
PORTER: Excuse me, you literally said --
STEYER: And that's why, if this proposition is on the ballot in November, I'll vote for it. But going forward, we do need to go further. This is a one-time tax. And it also doesn't spread the money across the government the way everything else does. And, specifically, it doesn't go to education and teachers and students, which is a critical need in the state of California.
The tax I'm proposing to close a corporate real estate tax loophole is more money --
MICHAELSON: Thank you, sir.
STEYER: -- and it's spread through --
PORTER: I have not --
MICHAELSON: Congresswoman. Congresswoman.
PORTER: I'm confused. Do you support the billionaire's tax that is going to be on the ballot in November, yes or no?
STEYER: Katie, I just said I will vote for it if it's on the ballot in November. And so, what I've said is --
PORTER: But you just said it wasn't a good idea.
STEYER: -- it doesn't go far enough that, in fact, it is a one-time tax, and it also doesn't spread the money throughout the government. Look --
VILLARAIGOSA: Let me weigh in. I'm the only candidate that actually balanced the budget.
MICHAELSON: We're going to bring Sheriff Bianco in first, and then we'll get to you, Mr. Mayor. Sheriff Bianco.
SHERIFF CHAD BIANCO (R), RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Thank you. So, these Democrat policies of tax everybody to death and make them leave is how we started this program off to begin with. Everyone is leaving California, and it's because of their horrific policies.
I agree with Katie that this is a horrific tax bill, but she is wrong on one thing. This is not a billionaire tax bill. You just have to read it and read what it is. I have spent my career suffering the consequences of their decisions and their policy that they love talking about. I am the one that deals with it. And this, the 140,000 people that are paying 50 percent of the taxes are going to leave, and then the wording of that bill makes the middle class and the lower middle class make up all those taxes.
MICHAELSON: Thank you, sir. The next question goes to you, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Villaraigosa. In the last seven years, Fortune 500 companies such as Oracle, Chevron, Charles Schwab, Palantir have all moved their headquarters out of California. Mayor Villaraigosa, your opponent, Congresswoman Porter here, wants to raise taxes on the most profitable corporations. Would her plan lead to more businesses leaving the state?
VILLARAIGOSA: Yes, but let me just say, I'm the only candidate on this stage that's actually balanced two state budgets with a surplus and a tax cut. And I can tell you this, we over rely on the upper income tax. That's why you have feast and famine virtually every year.
So, the problem with the billionaire tax, it's a one-time tax. It's flawed. If I believe that people that make that kind of money ought to pay more. In fact, when I'm governor, people like Tom, who want to pay more, will be able to do that. But at the end of the day, the federal government should do it because people are leaving and they've been leaving because of the threat of this tax, just as businesses have been leaving because of the high tax state that we are.
MICHAELSON: Congresswoman Porter, your response in terms of your tax plan?
PORTER: Yes, look, I think all taxes should be progressive. And I think that is a core principle. And families get this when they get a bonus, when they earn a little more, they trip up into a different tax bracket and they have to pay more. That's all I'm suggesting we do for corporations.
And by the way, not only would that say to the corporation that has a banner year and makes a billion dollars, you pay not the same rate, maybe you pay a tiny bit higher rate so that we can provide tax relief for families earning less than one hundred thousand dollars.
MICHAELSON: Mayor Mahan, your thoughts in terms of taxing businesses?
MAHAN: Yes. Look, where I differ with my Democratic colleagues is they're all talking about how to raise revenue, make government bigger. You know, Secretary Becerra always brags about how big the trillion-dollar budgets were that he managed. I'm interested in making government better. The answer isn't always bigger.
In San Jose, without raising taxes, with a balanced budget, we got thousands of homes under construction. We moved thousands of people indoors and led the state in reducing homelessness. We made our city the safest big city in the country, reduced gun violence by 71 percent. Californians are tired of the more of the same policies.
MICHAELSON: Thank you.
MAHAN: We also -- I think it's disqualifying that we have Republican candidates who are bracing Donald Trump's cruel and ineffective policies.
MICHAELSON: Let's go. Mr. Hilton, to you and then we'll get Secretary Becerra in for his response. Mr. Hilton, disqualifying is what Mayor Mahan said.
HILTON: There's a very simple truth which everyone in California knows, which is that taxes are too high and we need taxes to be lower. And they're especially too high for working people in California. You got people on 70, 80, 90-grand in California, which doesn't get you very far, who are paying 9.3 percent state income tax. That is higher than the top rate in most other states. That's why my plan eliminates state income tax under 100-grand.
[21:25:05]
And by the way, if you think that it can't get worse in California, I've got two words for you, Tom Steyer. Under Tom Steyer, the taxes will be higher, gas prices will be higher, everything will be higher with Steyer. OK.
MICHAELSON: We'll go to Steyer, then we'll go back to Becerra, Mr. Steyer.
STEYER: OK. I do think it's rich to hear someone talk about $3 gas who is owned by Donald Trump, who has driven up the gas price by at least $1.50. And I do think it's rich for somebody who is not as rich as you, Tom, who's kicking 1 to 3 million people off Medi-Cal, the poorest people, most vulnerable people in California, so that he can lower the taxes on the richest Americans and the biggest corporations.
The truth of the matter is what I stand for is shared prosperity, real prosperity, real growth, supporting businesses, but sharing it works so that the people in California get what they need.
MICHAELSON: Thank you.
STEYER: And going after corporate special interests is the way we're going to drive down costs --
MICHAELSON: Thank you, Mr. Steyer. Secretary Becerra, Mayor Mahan suggested that you're interested in growing the size of government. He says he wants to cut it. Your response?
MAHAN: I didn't say I want to cut it. I said I want to use the revenue we have today to make government better.
MICHAELSON: All right.
MAHAN: We need to demand Sacramento do better before we ask working people to pay more. All of Tom Steyer's proposals will just increase cost.
MICHAELSON: Secretary Becerra.
BECERRA: Mayor Mahan, you should take a look at my record and you'll realize that the largest health enterprise in the world, the Department of Health and Human Services, is big. It's because we have to make sure we're doing everything to improve the health care for 333 million Americans. And we balanced our budget four years in a row.
So, Matt, here's the thing. I've been able to balance budgets much larger than your city of San Jose and make sure that we continue to improve health care for more and more Americans. But on the issue of taxes, here's the point. Everyone should pay their fair share. No one can claim that a CEO who's making more than 1,000 times more than their line workers is paying their fair share.
And, Tom, one of these days, let us know how much money you have in the Cayman Islands so we can make sure we tax you, your fair share.
STEYER: OK. I'm going to answer that because I pay full taxes on everything. I'm invested in all over the world and I pay full California and U.S. taxes on absolutely everything. That's not fair. But what is fair is this. I'm going to drive down costs --
HILTON: You use every tax loophole available.
STEYER: -- by going -- I am going to --
HILTON: You pay the lowest tax rate of anyone on this stage.
STEYER: -- by going after the electric monopoly that no one else here will take on. We're going to introduce competition. I'm going to go after the oil companies, make them pay for their pollution and have a windfall profits tax. I am going to drive down costs for working people. And that will not only work for them, it will work for the corporations who employ them and make them more competitive.
MICHAELSON: Thank you, Mr. Steyer. Mr. Mahan, your chance.
MAHAN: Yes, I just -- I have to go back to this point about it's not always about the size of the budget or how big government is.
BECERRA: But being able to balance it is an important point. I think you have to admit that.
MAHAN: Here's what I would here is what I would ask you to acknowledge, which is you keep referencing your experience as your main qualification. But what have those 30 years of experience gotten us?
BECERRA: More Americans insured.
MAHAN: A.G., health care -- no, hold on. Let me finish. Let me finish.
BECERRA: Well, you asked the question.
MAHAN: Higher and less affordable health care that's squeezing --
BECERRA: Actually, not on my watch.
MAHAN: -- out -- no, we did not. Health care costs have gone up relentlessly. Health outcomes -- BECERRA: You haven't talked to millions of Americans we helped inure.
MAHAN: If I could just finish my point.
BECERRA: Well, you have -- make sure you're saying that's factual.
MAHAN: OK. It's pretty -- you can go look at the data. Health care costs.
BECERRA: That's right.
MAHAN: -- are up.
BECERRA: We were able to help Americans insured than ever in the --
MAHAN: You mind if I just finish the point.
MICHAELSON: Mr. Mayor, finish your point and then --
MAHAN: Yes. I just really --
BECERRA: One at a time.
MAHAN: Really quick points. I'll just make it --
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: If you talk about issues, I'm going to be prepared to fact check.
MAHAN: When it's your turn, go ahead. So, higher health care costs, they're squeezing families today. Worse health outcomes. And as fraudulent and wasteful spending in health care grew, Javier Becerra did nothing as A.G. and as HHS secretary.
BECERRA: Got to fact check that one.
MAHAN: Well, it's as bad as ever. And you've been in a political career politician.
MARTIN: That's time. Secretary Becerra.
BECERRA: Yes, totally untrue, man. That sounds like a MAGA talking point. Listen --
MAHAN: No, it's just the facts.
BECERRA: -- under my watch more Americans gain health coverage than ever in the history of the country, more than 300 million. Under my watch, we were able to give folks access to the Obamacare insurance policies on the marketplace for, in some cases, $10 or less a month in premiums.
Today, those are skyrocketing and people are losing those premiums and insurance covers because Donald Trump abandoned those health care subsidies. COLLINS: Thank you, Secretary.
BECERRA: Learn the facts, Matt, before you start talking.
COLLINS: We're going to come back to health care, because obviously it's a huge topic for everyone in this state. I want to turn to another critical issue, not just in California, but also in the entire nation, which is immigration, as all of you know.
Mr. Hilton, right now, President Trump is enacting a policy of mass deportation. As you know, roughly half of California farm workers, which are an essential part of this state's economy, are undocumented. As governor, would you push to deport them?
[21:30:05]
HILTON: So I'm the only immigrant on stage. I'm a legal immigrant, and Americans support immigration when it is properly controlled.
And what we saw under the Biden administration, open borders undermined everybody's support for immigration.
And as governor, I've made it very clear, although it is the federal government's responsibility to determine and implement immigration policy, I think it's important that all the laws are peacefully enforced. And as governor, I would make sure that we work with the federal government to enforce our laws.
VILLARAIGOSA: So you'd deport them?
HILTON: That is what we can expect. That is what we can expect.
COLLINS: So, just to clarify, Mr. Hilton, do you support deporting those undocumented farm workers?
HILTON: The policy on deportation is the exact same policy that we saw with President Obama. In fact, the numbers of deportations right now in our country and in California, are slightly lower --
COLLINS: Just to clarify you --
VILLARAIGOSA: Can you answer the question?
COLLINS: Just to clarify --
HILTON: I've answered the question, which is I will work with --
VILLARAIGOSA: Will you deport them? That was the question.
HILTON: Well, would you, Antonio, because the governor of California, as you know, doesn't make that decision. It is the president of the United States elected by the country --
VILLARAIGOSA: Will you oppose him?
CHAD BIANCO (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Six of the people here don't even know who deports anyone. They just want emotions to rule the day, so you support them because they don't even know what the governor can and can't do. Or if they do, they're lying to you.
COLLINS: Congresswoman Porter?
PORTER: I can't believe that on a stage with 30 minutes of interrupting and bickering and name-calling and shouting and disrespect for everyone up here who's stepping into public service, that anyone wants to talk about my temperament.
BIANCO: You are actually interrupting them, too. I don't know why you want to act like you weren't.
PORTER: Oh, cowboy --
(CROSSTALK)
BIANCO: Steve and I, Steve and I sat here smiling at each other because we're just watching you all prove to everyone why they can't vote for a Democrat.
HILTON: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll answer the question.
COLLINS: Congresswoman Porter, first off, do you want to respond to that from Sheriff Bianco?
PORTER: Yes. I -- I did not interrupt. I did not go back and forth.
Mr. Bianco, you've been very well-behaved tonight, especially compared to CBS, and I actually appreciate it that you've been waiting your turn and following the rules.
And I would appreciate it if everybody could do that, because I think Californians are actually owed some answers to questions.
VILLARAIGOSA: We were told we can interject.
COLLINS: Congresswoman Porter, on the question itself on these farm workers, which are a big part of California's economy, what's your answer to that? As Mr. Hilton is saying, it's the decision of the federal government.
PORTER: It's the job of the governor to protect every single Californian, period. There are no qualifications on that.
BIANCO: Are you doing that? Are you doing that by having a sanctuary state policy? Absolutely not. And I was on the stage telling everyone what was going to --
(CROSSTALK)
PORTER: Yes. I would like to get one --
BIANCO: -- from sanctuary state -- PORTER: -- complete answer --
(CROSSTALK)
BIANCO: -- and it's forcing her --
PORTER: -- before you interrupt.
BIANCO: Forcing us to be less safe.
PORTER: May I give an answer?
COLLINS: Go ahead, Congresswoman.
PORTER: It's the job of the California governor to protect every single Californian. The sanctuary state policy is designed to make sure that our state resources, the taxpayer dollars, the public servants that we have are focusing on doing their jobs, which is not cooperating with the federal immigration authorities.
These are Californians. They contribute to our economy. They pay taxes, and they're one of the only ways that our state has been growing in recent years.
COLLINS: Mayor Villaraigosa?
VILLARAIGOSA: You know, you say you're a sheriff and I know you are, but you clearly don't know what the sanctuary law does.
(LAUGHTER)
BIANCO: I'm the only one up here that has to work with it.
VILLARAIGOSA: Mr. Bianco, excuse me?
The fact is, since 2019, the state has turned over 12,000 violent criminals to the federal government. Sanctuary law does not protect violent criminals in the way that you constantly say they do.
BIANCO: Oh, yes it does.
VILLARAIGOSA: We've turned over -- this state has turned over 12,000 criminals.
I'll tell you what I think is illegal, is a sheriff of Riverside County sequestering --
BIANCO: That's because you're lying to people.
VILLARAIGOSA: -- votes -- thousands of votes in the way that you did.
BIANCO: It's because you're lying to the people right now.
VILLARAIGOSA: The Supreme Court said that you --
BIANCO: No, they didn't. VILLARAIGOSA: -- shouldn't have done it in the first place.
BIANCO: No, they didn't.
BECERRA: I interject on this one.
Kaitlan, can I go?
COLLINS: Go ahead, Mr. Becerra, Secretary Becerra?
BECERRA: So I'm the only one who actually has experience taking on Trump and the way he's handling undocumented immigrants because when he was president the first time, I was the attorney general, and we took him on straight on in court, we stopped him from trying to force local law enforcement to do the bidding of ICE. We were able to make sure we protected the DACA program for our Dreamers all the way to the Supreme Court, and we beat Donald Trump.
[21:35:02]
What we have to do is make sure that Trump cannot invade California, and you can't stop him if you've got a governor like Steve Hilton, who is his dad. Donald Trump is his daddy, and he will protect him all the way through.
COLLINS: Thank you, Secretary Becerra.
Mr. Hilton, I'll let you respond to that.
And I have a question for you, Mr. Steyer, after that.
HILTON: I don't want to respond to silly name-calling, but I'd like to actually respond to something Katie said. And I think it's probably a sincere policy difference between us.
She said something very revealing, which is the only way, really, that California's economy has been growing in the last few years is through illegal immigration, and I just don't think that's the right way for us to be growing. I think we need to help small businesses create jobs and opportunity, and for Californians to be able to earn more and live the California dream, and for entrepreneurs to want to start businesses in California.
That's how we should be growing our economy, not by illegal immigration.
COLLINS: Congresswoman Porter?
PORTER: I mean, given that you're an immigrant and you added to our population --
HILTON: A legal immigration.
PORTER: -- and we're all having to live with the consequences of that decision.
HILTON: Katie, it's -- there's a difference I think you'll accept between legal and illegal immigration.
PORTER: Yes. And I wasn't referring to -- I was saying that immigration has been a major source of growth in California's economy. And that is true.
COLLINS: Thank you, Congresswoman.
Mr. Steyer, I've got a question for you on immigration because you want California's attorney general to be able to hold both ICE agents and their leadership criminally -- criminally liable for what you say is, quote, "violent, illegal conduct on the job".
Does that include the former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversaw the ICE operations in Los Angeles last year?
STEYER: Look, it -- the governor of California should hold people accountable who break the laws of California, specifically including ICE agents and the people who send them to racially profile, which is illegal, and use violence against Californians, which is illegal.
And it should go up the chain to the supervisors, right up to Stephen Miller. If he's sending people to racially profile and hurt Californians or kill Californians, he should be held liable. It is not legal for federal agents to come to California and break the law.
It is absolutely critical that California's governor does stand up for everyone in California. That in fact, ICE to me is a criminal operation. I've said all along we should abolish ICE. It's breaking the law. It is coming here deliberately to break the law.
And that's why I'm saying we should hold them accountable. We should inspect the detention centers that they have in secret.
COLLINS: So just to clarify, Mr. Steyer --
STEYER: We should have a legal defense fund -- yes, I do, I don't know -- I would go all the way up the chain.
I've gone as far as Stephen Miller. Stephen Miller should be held accountable for what the ICE agents do in California that he sends.
COLLINS: But just to clarify, since Kristi Noem was the Senate- confirmed Department of Homeland Security secretary, do you believe that she is someone who should be prosecuted?
STEYER: If she has given the orders to break the law in California? Yes.
COLLINS: Sheriff Bianco, what's your response to that?
(CROSSTALK)
STEYER: She has to be able to prove it.
BIANCO: No one has broken the law in California, and this is why we fight in the streets and people are out rioting, burning down Los Angeles because politicians like this sit and lie to everyone. They -- they get them all infuriated up with emotion because they don't want to tell the truth.
ICE agents are enforcing the law and sanctuary state policy, Democrats forced ICE into our cities and streets and neighborhoods to find these criminals.
And I want Mr. Villaraigosa to tell the mother of the 14-year-old in my county that is dead because of an illegal immigrant that had been deported three times because of DUIs that sanctuary state policy keeps us safe.
I don't think she's going to agree with you, and the mother of my dispatcher that was killed is not going to agree with you.
COLLINS: Mayor Villaraigosa, do you want to reply?
VILLARAIGOSA: If an undocumented worker killed somebody, he should go to jail. He should be prosecuted.
BIANCO: It's too late, don't you think? How about the three DUIs before that?
VILLARAIGOSA: You won't let me finish?
BIANCO: No, because we know --
VILLARAIGOSA: You want to be the bully that you always are.
BIANCO: No, I don't.
VILLARAIGOSA: You know, you're an Oath Keeper. We all know that.
BIANCO: And I'm very proud of it.
VILLARAIGOSA: Well, you shouldn't --
BIANCO: I'm very proud of it. And guess what?
VILLARAIGOSA: Well, I'm sorry --
BIANCO: You're going to swear an oath and you swore an oath. You should know what you were swearing and be proud of defending it.
VILLARAIGOSA: I'm sorry. I don't think an Oath Keeper is qualified to be governor.
BIANCO: I don't think you know what an Oath Keeper is.
VILLARAIGOSA: Let me -- let me answer the question. I said, if an undocumented person committed murder, they should be held accountable. They should go to jail. And you keep on saying that sanctuary prevents violent criminals from being turned over.
BIANCO: No, I didn't, I said it prevents criminals.
VILLARAIGOSA: In fact, as I said earlier --
BIANCO: I said it prevents criminals. Don't lie for me.
VILLARAIGOSA: In fact, as I said earlier, thousands have been turned over since 2019.
BIANCO: Obviously not enough.
VILLARAIGOSA: And, Steve Hilton, let me be clear. You know, I know you're recently arrived to California, but if you've read the Bay Area Institute, the UC Merced study, immigrants -- if we took them all out, including the undocumented, it would be a $274 billion hit to California economy.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
[21:40:12]
Sheriff Bianco, just to follow up on what you were just saying there, and you said you're a proud Oath Keeper.
Are you referring to the group?
BIANCO: I have sworn an oath three times to defend my Constitution.
COLLINS: So, you were referring to taking an oath and --
(CROSSTALK)
BIANCO: Yes. And everybody that wants to like again, lie and emotionally get all spun up about the Oath Keeper organization. I just would -- before you do that, and I know none of you have, I want you to go read the mission statement of the Oath Keeper mission statement and the ACLU.
VILLARAIGOSA: I saw them on CNN attacking the Capitol.
BIANCO: And the ACLU.
I saw a politician molesting kids. Does that mean you molest kids?
VILLARAIGOSA: What?
BIANCO: Exactly. Don't pull those stupid statements out and expect to not be called out.
VILLARAIGOSA: You're an Oath Keeper --
COLLINS: Let Sheriff Bianco --
VILLARAIGOSA: You have no reason to --
(CROSSSTALK)
BIANCO: There is --
VILLARAIGOSA: -- to be governor of California.
COLLINS: I just want to clarify --
BIANCO: I am extremely proud of swearing an oath to defend my Constitution against politicians like this.
COLLINS: And do you still consider yourself a member of that group, to be clear?
BIANCO: No.
COLLINS: Okay. Thank you, Sheriff Bianco.
Secretary Becerra, on the question itself, do you also support prosecuting the leadership of ICE?
BECERRA: I think we should police Donald Trump's masked mercenary force that they call ICE. I think we should prosecute any of the forces that violate the law. And I think we should jail anyone who has violated the law.
That goes all the way to the top.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree.
BECERRA: If anyone has violated the laws of California, they should serve time.
BIANCO: And I'm telling you, no one has.
BECERRA: That's -- you know, there are two people who are dead in Minneapolis because they were simply doing their civic duty --
BIANCO: Don't lie.
BECERRA: -- and being able to act under the Constitution.
BIANCO: Your civic duty is bringing a gun and fighting with cops? Your civic duty is to try and run over cops? Come on.
BECERRA: Well --
BIANCO: You've already been called out --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oath Keepers brought guns to the Capitol, Mr. Bianco.
BIANCO: Let's just be honest.
COLLINS: Sheriff Bianco, as the member of law enforcement here -- last week, the Department of Justice sued the state of New Jersey because the governor there signed into law a mask ban for ICE agents, a similar law in California was blocked last month.
Do you believe that ICE agents who are conducting immigration enforcement should be able to wear a mask when they're on the job?
BIANCO: I believe that the state of California doesn't get to dictate what they do. Would I -- do -- do I allow my deputies to do that? In certain circumstances.
So, the answer would be, I guess yes, because depending on the circumstances that the federal government has jurisdiction over that, they can decide what they want to do.
My deputies doing their work don't do that. But there are some circumstances where deputies and police officers would do that.
So if we're honest and talk about what this really does and what it is, everyone would come up with a logical answer. But when you talk about emotions and you fire off emotions and untruths, I think they get defended with lies. But untruths, then you just confuse and --
MAHAN: But, Chad, you're not -- you're not -- you're not being honest about the impacts.
BECERRA: That's a chilling answer.
MAHAN: I was -- I was just.
BECERRA: That's a chilling answer.
BIANCO: There is --
MAHAN: Yeah. I mean, look, it's -- we can all agree that we should have a secure border. If you're committing serious and violent crime, deportation is the consequence.
But I was just in the fashion district on the side of downtown Los Angeles, where I met with small business owners who have tears in their eyes because they don't have customers anymore, because Donald Trump's cruel and indiscriminate enforcement, based on the color of peoples skins, the language theyre speaking has terrorized a community.
It's targeting the Latino community. It is disproportionately impacting our immigrant neighbors.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mayor Mahan.
Congresswoman Porter, what's your view? What's your response?
PORTER: Donald Trump sucks. And I don't think that anyone who doesn't see that he is targeting and hurting Californians and wont stand up for everybody who is counting on them to be their leader and keep them safe has no business being governor.
COLLINS: Congresswoman Porter, thank you for that.
Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: Antonio mentioned me earlier and said I just recently arrived. It's true. I arrived here in 2012 with my wife and my two sons.
But what's interesting is that, I don't think there's an appreciation of the difference between legal and illegal immigration.
I've spent many, many times right here in East L.A., where we are, with legal immigrants, with families of legal immigrants who really resent the unfairness that we're seeing in California, where you have illegal immigrants who are getting free benefits --
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Hilton.
HILTON: -- housing, welfare. And they say to me, look, we did it the right way. We worked hard.
VILLARAIGOSA: That's not true.
HILTON: We came --
VILLARAIGOSA: Can I respond?
COLLINS: Candidates, don't worry --
HILTON: We are not getting fairness and we need to restore fairness in our system.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Hilton. And candidates, don't worry, we have many more questions to come up from both of us ahead.
And much more of CNN's California governor primary debate right after this.
[21:44:57]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:49:45]
COLLINS: Welcome back to the "California Governor Primary Debate." On stage tonight, five Democrats, two Republicans, all battling it out for two spots on the ballot in November.
The next governor of California, as we all know and have talked about tonight, will have to work with President Trump for the next two years. Congresswoman Porter, you recently put out an email, a fundraising email with the subject line "'eff' Trump." And you're not censoring it like I am right now. And you went on to say, quote, "That's right, 'eff' Trump. Together, we're going to kick Trump's ass in November." Will eff Trump be your guiding principle in dealing with the president?
[21:50:21]
PORTER: When Donald Trump hurts California, as he has again and again, then I will absolutely stand up to him, 100 percent. He has denied wildfire funding to help disaster victims here in California. He has made it clear that he is seeking to specifically punish California in canceling green energy projects here that create good, high-paying jobs while he's allowing them to continue in other states. We absolutely have to be clear about the risk that Donald Trump presents to Californians and to our economy and to our ability to change California for the better. So if he's going to attack California, yeah, eff him.
COLLINS: Mr. Hilton?
HILTON: I think the next governor of California will have to work with the administration and with the president that the American people elected to get good results for Californians. And by the way, my attitude will be to work with the president, regardless of party, to get good results for Californians. Now, it so happens that we have a president who has endorsed me for governor, and we've discussed how I can work with his team to lower gas prices in California by opening up energy production, to reduce wildfire risk by proper forest management, to get the fraud and the waste...
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Hilton.
HILTON: ... out of our state budget so we can cut taxes. These are all practical ways we can work together to help everyone...
COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Hilton.
HILTON: ... in California watching.
COLLINS: Secretary Becerra, what's your view of that as someone who served in the federal government?
BECERRA: Well, I served and we helped the State of California when I was at the Department of Health and Human Services. But when I was attorney general, when Trump was president the first time, we took him on. Every time he tried to attack our state, when he tried to force us to do things that were against the law, when he tried to deny us our resources, we took him on. That's why I had to go toe-to-toe with him in court over 120 times. And most of those cases we were able to win.
I will tell you this, whether it was on women's health care, whether it was protecting immigrants rights, whether it was defending our environmental laws, we took him on. And because Donald Trump doesn't understand the laws very well, we were able to beat him over and over, including taking the Affordable Care Act all the way to the Supreme Court...
COLLINS: Thank you, Secretary Becerra.
BECERRA: ... and defending it.
COLLINS: Mayor Mahan, on that fundraising email and that phrasing that the congresswoman used, I mean, do you believe that eff Trump is a good guiding principle as the governor of California in working with the federal government?
MAHAN: Well, Kaitlan, look, my -- my approach is to fight for our values. As mayor of San Jose, I've sued the Trump administration multiple times, increased funding for our immigrant neighbors who are under attack. We've prohibited ICE from using city property as a staging area. But I will also never forget that the best resistance is delivering results, showing that California's progressive values work in practice. That's what I've done as mayor, one of the only people on this stage who can point to real results that matter in people's lives. Safest big city in the country. One-third fewer homeless people. Thousands of homes under construction.
COLLINS: Thank you, Mayor Mahan.
MAHAN: Thousands of new small businesses. Real results. Not a lot of rhetoric. That's not going to beat Donald Trump.
COLLINS: Sheriff Bianco?
BIANCO: Yeah. I promise every single person out there that you're not going to hear one word from me about President Trump, President Biden, or anything else, because I'm going to be the only one on this stage that's actually going to be the governor of California for Californians. And I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you -- and blame somebody else for our problems that have been absolutely, absolutely caused by 70 years of Democrat rule in the assembly and senate and 16 years of one-party rule by their policies, their things that they put in place that have destroyed the ability to live...
COLLINS: Thank you, Sheriff Bianco.
BIANCO: ... in California.
COLLINS: Mr. Steyer, what's your take on this?
STEYER: Look, I started an organization in 2017 to impeach Donald Trump because I've been in enough boardrooms to know a crook when I see one. And he is a crook. And what we can see that he's doing now is he's sending in ICE agents to racially profile and harass Californians. He started a war that's driving up our gas prices. He's taking tens of billions, hundreds of billions of dollars that we need for schools and for health care away from us. He's kicking people off health care. The truth of the matter is the governor of California is supposed to stand up for Californians against anyone. And that is exactly the only thing that Donald Trump...
MICHAELSON: Thank you, Mr. Steyer.
STEYER: The only thing he respects is strength. He's a bully. And the only thing you can do is stand up to him.
MICHAELSON: All right. Now let's turn more about the health care crisis in America. Millions of people are dropping insurance coverage after Congress allowed Obamacare subsidies to expire. In California, new enrollments are down 32 percent.
[21:55:07]
Secretary Becerra, in late March, you said you'd, quote, "deliver a state-run, publicly-funded health care program for every Californian." But in a recent meeting, you reportedly told a group of doctors that you are not supporting single-payer right now. So which is it? Would you push for single-payer as governor or not?
BECERRA: Elex, let's be clear, I've been consistent for over 30 years. When I was in Congress, I talked about how Medicare-for-all is probably the most efficient way that we can do health care. And I have always been there, I haven't changed. And so those reports were inaccurate. I continue to be for Medicare-for-all. And I can show you how I have actually expanded health care, because those very subsidies that you mentioned are what helped us reach record levels of Obamacare coverage, more than 24.5 million people under our watch were able to get their health insurance coverage.
That is now going down because Trump has denied people the chance to have those subsidies. And the Republicans and Mr. Hilton, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, haven't said whether they would fight to help those Californians regain their coverage.
And so, Steve, will you support having those tax subsidies for Obamacare returned to those Californians who are losing their insurance today?
PORTER: We didn't get an answer.
MICHAELSON: I'm -- I'm going to -- we're going to -- we're going to -- first of all, I just want to clarify real quick, and then we'll get you guys in.
So, as governor, you're pushing for a single-payer system in California?
BECERRA: We should try to get to a Medicare-for-all program. And while we are continuing to work in that direction, we should make sure we are expanding coverage because the most important thing we have to do is give -- give people peace of mind that they can afford their health care and that we will continue to get...
MICHAELSON: Thank...
BECERRA: ... to more families.
MICHAELSON: Thank you, sir.
Mr. Steyer.
STEYER: Look, I am for single-payer, absolutely, because it's the only way we can deliver health care as a right at a cost that California can afford. And that's why the nurses support me. I was with them this morning. They know that I will fight for single-payer until we get it.
And maybe those reports were wrong, Xavier. But the truth is the group you are...
BECERRA: And they were. STEYER: ... with, the California Medical Association, is the strongest group against single-payer in the state. And they just spent the maximum amount of money, they maxed out to your campaign after that meeting. So somebody didn't understand something because they are supporting you with the max amount of money that they can give.
MICHAELSON: Secretary Becerra, response, then Congresswoman Porter.
BECERRA: Yeah. So a guy who is funding his campaign to a tune of over $150 million with profits made from oil companies, from helping fund private for-profit prisons that are detaining immigrants in California, has a real short memory span of how to make sure this place works. I continue to enjoy the support of health care sectors throughout California, doctors, nurses. I have -- I've got the endorsement of nurses as well. And I will continue to fight to make sure everyone has access to good quality health care in California, as I proved it when I was secretary of Health and Human Services.
MICHAELSON: Congresswoman Porter.
PORTER: Well, golly gee, I also have the endorsement of nurses. So three's a crowd.
The question, I think, is trying to aim at, do you support CalCare, California having its own state-run single-payer system, yes or no?
BECERRA: Is that a question I can answer?
MICHAELSON: Sure, go ahead.
BECERRA: As I've said, when I was secretary of Health and Human Services, I was able to...
PORTER: I -- I'd like my time back.
BECERRA: ... expand...
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: Is that -- is that a yes or a no?
BECERRA: I'm answering the question.
MICHAELSON: OK.
BECERRA: So the most important thing about having a Medicare-for-all plan is that it includes all, everyone, for all. And what we have to do is get to the point where we are covering everyone with something like Medicare-for-all. So I am absolutely for Medicare-for-all.
MICHAELSON: Congresswoman...
BECERRA: And we will get there. We'll build towards it because that's the way you get folks covered. That's the way I did it at HHS.
MICHAELSON: Congresswoman Porter, then Mayor Villaraigosa. Congresswoman.
PORTER: Covering everyone with something is not single-payer. It's not even federal Medicare-for-all. But you won't say that -- whether you support California having its own state-run single-payer system.
Look, Tom ran against single-payer in his presidency before he changed his mind and has decided to run for single-payer. I'm not disputing that, Tom. I'm making sure everyone knows. And you've been consistent on this point. You've been consistent. But I want Xavier to answer the question. Do you support California having its own single-payer system, yes or no?
And, Katie, the answer there is that Californians don't care what you call it, so long as they have affordable health care that they can use to take their child to the doctor or the hospital when they...
(CROSSTALK)
PORTER: Well, I'd like to use my magic wand and give everybody affordable health care.
MICHAELSON: It's Mayor Villaraigosa's turn. Go ahead, sir.
VILLARAIGOSA: You know, I believe in -- that health care is a right, not a privilege, that it should be universal, affordable, and high quality. But the fact is, Xavier, I've been in enough forums with you where I've heard you say you're for it and I've heard you say you're against it.
BECERRA: I've never said I'm against it.
VILLARAIGOSA: Hold it.
BECERRA: I've never said it.
VILLARAIGOSA: Let me finish. I've heard you say that you're against it.
(CROSSTALK)
BECERRA: ... the forum that I said it in.
VILLARAIGOSA: First of all, can I finish?
BECERRA: If you could just point to the forum that I said it, because I've never said it. So...
VILLARAIGOSA: We've been at many forums where you said it, but let me finish the point. It's a $500 billion price tag.
